SCICU Kicks Off Challenge Grant Initiative

At the recent meeting of the SCICU Board of Trustees at Wofford College, SCICU Development Committee Chairman Lonnie Emard, who also serves as Executive Director of IT-oLogy, announced that SCICU and IT-oLogy will partner in a fundraising initiative that will provide forty $1,500 scholarships over the next two years to students studying in STEM-related majors (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) at the twenty SCICU-member colleges.

“We are pleased to announce,” said Emard, “that SCICU has won a $25,000 Scholarship Challenge Grant from the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) that will be used to leverage at least $35,000 in new and increased gifts for student scholarships at our 20 member colleges. CIC earmarked $100,000 for four scholarship programs, and we congratulate Eddie Shannon and SCICU for writing a winning proposal and thank the Council of Independent Colleges for their support.”

SCICU will raise at least $35,000 in new or increased funding from South Carolina businesses including current members and supporters of the IT-oLogy program. IT-oLogy will take the lead in helping SCICU contactIT-oLogy’s business members to seek donations toward the $35,000 challenge goal. SCICU will supplement this approach by working with other SCICU Board members to seek support from other corporations.

In cooperation with IT-oLogy, SCICU plans to use the $60,000 Challenge Grant funds to create a new IT/STEM-related scholarship program—the SCICU IT-oLogy Scholarship Program—to help meet a priority set forth by the state’s corporate leaders, specifically the pressing need to expand the number of IT majors and graduates heading into our regional workforce. The new funds raised from corporate donors will provide SCICU IT-oLogy Scholarships in the amount of $1,500 each to a minimum of 40 students. The scholarships will be awarded over the next two years, one each year to the 20 SCICU-member colleges.

The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), headquartered in Washington, DC, is an association of 744 nonprofit independent colleges and universities and higher education affiliates and organizations that has worked since 1956 to support college and university leadership, advance institutional excellence, and enhance public understanding of private higher education’s contributions to society. CIC also provides support to state fundraising members like SCICU which organize programs and generate contributions for private colleges and universities.

SCICU has until June 30, 2015, to raise the $35,000 matching funds to qualify for the $25,000 grant from CIC. The scholarships will be awarded to eligible students beginning in the fall semester of the 2015-16 academic year. For more information on the scholarship program, or to make a contribution toward the SCICU/CIC Challenge Grant, please contact Eddie Shannon at eddie@scicu.org or (803)799-7122.